Twisted \(K\)-theory, real \(A\)-bundles and Grothendieck-Witt groups (Q515881)

The authors introduce a general notion of twisted topological \(K\)-theory that recovers and unifies several notions of \(K\)-theory in the literature, and also leads to some new ones. The general setting is as follows: \(G\) is a compact Lie group, \(X\) is a topological space with a \(G\)-action, and \(\mathcal A\) is a Banach \(\mathbb R\)-algebra with a \(G\)-action, or more generally a bundle of such algebras over \(X\). In this setting, a \(G\)-\(\mathcal A\)-bundle is a bundle of \(\mathcal A\)-algebras satisfying some natural conditions, and equipped with a \(G\)-action that is suitably intertwined with the actions on \(\mathcal A\) and \(X\). The authors' twisted \(K\)-groups \(K_G^{\mathcal A}(X)\) are generated by isomorphism classes of such \(G\)-\(\mathcal A\)-bundles. Particular instances of these \(K\)-groups include real, complex or quaternionic equivariant \(K\)-theory, Atiyah's Real \(K\)-theory, and the twisted \(K\)-theories studied for example in [\textit{J. Rosenberg}, J. Aust. Math. Soc., Ser. A 47, No. 3, 368--381 (1989; Zbl 0695.46031)], [\textit{P. Donovan} and \textit{M. Karoubi}, Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 38, 5--25 (1970; Zbl 0207.22003)] and [\textit{M. Atiyah} and \textit{G. Segal}, Ukr. Mat. Visn. 1, No. 3, 287--300 (2004; Zbl 1151.55301)]. The first half of the paper discusses several generalizations of known results to this more general context. In particular, for compact \(X\), the category of \(G\)-\(\mathcal A\)-bundles over \(X\) is identified with a category of projective modules, generalizing the classical Serre-Swan theorem. The second half of the paper concentrates on the case when \(G = C_2\), the group with two elements. For a bundle \(\mathcal A\) of \(C^*\)-algebras with \(C_2\)-action, the Grothendieck-Witt groups of symmetric forms on \(C_2\)-\(\mathcal A\)-bundles are identified with twisted \(K\)-groups in the above sense.